Derek Dames Ohl is celebrating the July 28th release of his debut EP, Dumb, Drunk & Anxious, a milestone reached after a years-long journey. He’s evolved from a young dude fresh on the scene to part of a chummy local music community to a bassist in a beloved band to a solo songwriter. Now, he’s runnin’ down a dream to contentment. His first album as a solo artist, the EP signifies the next step in Ohl’s career as a musician, singer and songwriter as he treads cross-country and makes his way as both a performing and recording artist. Recorded in Nashville’s The Bomb Shelter which Ohl described as his “dream studio,” the five-song EP is an amalgamation of a lengthy process of writing and collecting songs and is the finest of what he has to offer — for now.
This EP is the result of Ohl’s turning point toward solo artistry after having spent years playing as part of jam-rock band Flash Mountain Flood, making musical peers and learning the inner workings of the local music scene. Ohl reflected on the initial decision to step out on his own after playing in a band for so many years, saying, “After a time, I think every artist gets to a point where it’s like ‘I have all these songs on my own and I really want to release them and do my thing.'”
When The Bomb Shelter made it clear they were “down with the project,” everything else seemed to fall into place. Recorded in five days with drummer Ben Parks, the long-time coming Dumb, Drunk & Anxious is a mature and full-bodied yet beautifully easy listen.
The five-song selection came together after Ohl chose the hauntingly reverberant “On The Line” as the first tune on the album. A song he wrote about the music industry, it’s one that is particularly close to his heart. “It’s about going through it for years and maybe not seeing the outcome you might want to see,” Ohl said of the tune, and of “the disillusionment of chasing being a professional, successful musician.” Once that first selection was made, the remainder was like “filling out the rest of the puzzle.”
Ohl is a full-time musician with an unwavering commitment to his craft, who’ll play as close as your backyard bar and as far as either coast. The short-term goal is to use this EP’s momentum to land bigger gigs, an ideal already manifesting with his October 13th show at Boulder’s eTown and November 16th show at the Chautauqua Community House. Ohl described his long-term goal as “[Learning] how to be thankful and happy playing where I’m at and what I’m doing and not always trying to be chasing the road. I’m working toward contentment as a musician.”
He’s not only got his fans and a support system from within the local music community to make that goal happen but also a solid mindset to drive him there. “What I’ve learned through it all is to really rely on your own craft and not be worrying,” Ohl expressed. “Just make sure what you’re doing is what you believe in and I think everything else will build around it.”
Listen to Dumb, Drunk & Anxious on Spotify here.